After nearly two years of procrastination (or is it more lack of motivation??) I had my first Spanish class since getting my IE offer for a place. I haven't been to a language class since 2000/1. I hired a private tutor for $500 per 10 sessions, and my first two-hours were really productive. Since I have basic Spanish knowledge, we jumped straight to grammar which I have always had problems with.
In theory, Spanish should be one of the easier languages for me to learn - Spanish is one of the official languages according to our Constitution (we were after all a Spanish colony for three hundred years... I am sure some of us have friars as ancestors!) But the truth is, every time I took classes I found it very, very challenging... more in a tedious rather than exciting way.
My former business partner, who claims not to like languages, and yet somehow managed to reach Level 8 in her classes at Instituto de Cervantes told me that one must have passion for the language.
I understand what she means because I feel that way about French ... from the moment I learned my first French word, I was hooked. Going off to live in Paris for the summer without the fluency didn't scare me, and I was mesmerised by the chatter around me - even if I didn't understand most of it.
Unfortunately, I don' feel the same way about Spanish... it's a task, a goal I have set for myself. And although I may never achieve the fluency of a native speaker, I am determined to be conversant by the end of the year, and certified by the middle of 2009.
Never underestimate the power of determination over passion.
2 comentario:
I'm trying to learn french. Last week I was able to hold a one-hour conversation. I was amazed I was able to do that :)
have a nice holiday ;)
Hi Gabriel, hope you do better than me with the French lessons (not hard to do as I sucked!)
Post a Comment